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April 22, 2009

Obama Marks Earth Day With Energy Plan Pitch in Iowa
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=23C10F4:A6F02AD83191E160E736BCA5D7CA4759F47489ACC27D21EE&
 
President plans to tour wind energy plant as model for job creation,
clean energy production that could lessen US dependence on foreign oil 
President Barack Obama U.S. President Barack Obama is heading to the
state of Iowa Wednesday to give an Earth Day message that pitches his
plan for alternative energy development. White House aides say the
president will highlight his plans to create new jobs and protect the
environment in a quick visit to the economically struggling town of
Newton, Iowa. He plans to tour a wind energy plant as a model for job
creation and clean energy production that could lessen U.S. dependence
on foreign oil. The government is holding a number of events in
Washington to mark Earth Day. Administration officials, including Energy
Secretary Stephen Chu and Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood, are
testifying at a House of Representatives hearing on The American Clean
Energy Security Act of 2009. Environmental groups and governments around
the world are marking Earth Day with events aimed at protecting nature
and raising awareness about global warming. The first Earth Day took
place in the !
 United States on April 22, 1970. Twenty million people participated in
protests around the country that day to demand that the government
combat widespread pollution. Also Wednesday, environmental ministers
from the Group of Eight (G8) industrial countries are meeting in Italy
for talks on curbing greenhouse gases that scientists say lead to global
warming. The three-day talks in Sicily will be a milestone on the way to
a U.N. meeting in Copenhagen in December, aimed at sealing an
international pact for curbing pollution beyond 2012. Environmental
ministers from China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa,
South Korea and Egypt are also attending the talks. Delegates will
discuss investment in green technology as a means to stimulate the
economy.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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